Alison wasn't sure how long she had been sleeping, but she suddenly felt a tickling sensation on her cheek.

Rafe smiled as Alison slept. He took the pink rose and ran it along her face.

Alison slowly opened her eyes, gently pulled away from the dream she had been having. Was that a rose she smelled? Her vision was blurry from so much sleep. In the early morning light, she thought she saw a figure. Alison blinked her eyes, not sure if she was still dreaming or not. And finally, her sleepy eyes came into focus. And the figure looked like Rafe! Alison's eyes widened in shock and disbelief as she sat up.

"I'm dreaming," she gasped. "I'm dreaming."

Rafe smiled at her. "You're not dreaming, Alison. You're not dreaming."

Alison, with her mouth still gaping in confusion, reached over and touched him arms. He felt real enough. "Oh my god." She ran her hands along his arms, and he was definitely real. And she felt very awake! "You're here. You're really here! You're real!"

Rafe flashed her that killer smile of his.

"Oh my god!" Alison said excitedly and fell into his arms. "I can't believe you're here!" Alison held on tightly to him and cried into his shoulder.

Alison lifted her head and looked at her angel in the face. He cradled her face in his hands and shook his head. "Yeah, I'm here." He wiped away the tears falling down her cheeks.

"I've missed you so much," Alison whispered. "Those eyes…those green eyes. And your smile." Alison put her hands on Rafe's face.

"Your lips." Rafe brought Alison's face to his and they had a very long-awaited kiss. Rafe then laughed softly. "You're crying." He looked into her eyes.

"I'm just so happy."

"So am I." Rafe put his arms around her and hugged her again.

"I never thought I'd see you again." Alison looked at Rafe. "How long do you get to stay? How long is your pass this time? Do you get another 13 weeks or what?" Alison smiled hopefully.

"Only angels get passes, Alison."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I'm not exactly an angel anymore. I'm getting a second chance at life, and I get to spend it with you. You were right all along, Alison, we were meant to keep this connection. All of our dreams that we have, a home, a family, just growing old together…it's ours, Alison. It's all ours."

"What?!"

"Yeah, it's true."

"Rafe!" Alison said excitedly and hugged him so tightly that Rafe almost couldn't breathe. "How is that possible?" Alison asked, searching for answers in his face.

"It's a long story that I'll tell you later. But right now, I'm here, and I'm with you. That's all that matters."

"Yeah," Alison said and shook her head. The two hugged again and held each other for a while.

Rafe saw the chain around Alison's neck. He picked up the end of it. "You're wearing my chain."

"Yeah. I've kept it close to me ever since you left, because it would make me feel closer to you. But I don't have to do that anymore, do I?" Alison carefully took the chain off her neck and put it around Rafe's. "I have you here with me now."

"Yeah, you do."

"But you'll still always be my angel." Alison touched his cheek lightly, and then brought her lips to his and kissed him.

~*~*~*~

"Mmm," Rafe said as took a bite out of a cinnamon roll heavily coated with icing. "If there is one thing that I have missed almost as much as you…it's this."

Alison laughed. "They don't have cinnamon rolls in heaven?"

"Not your cinnamon rolls."

"Oh.."

"What?"

"You have frosting on your mouth."

"Oh," Rafe said and wiped the corner of his mouth with his finger.

Alison laughed at him. "No, no, it's on the other side. Here, let me get it." Alison leaned forward and licked the sugary frosting off. They laughed and then kissed.

"OH MY GOD!" Livvie exclaimed.

Rafe and Alison turned their heads to the front door to see Livvie, who was white as a ghost from the shock. The muffins she had been holding went all over the floor.

Alison laughed softly, and she thought of how ironic it was that Rafe tended to have that effect-making people drop muffins.

Livvie walked over to the two slowly. She looked at Rafe. "How did you…how in the world did you…I thought you were in Heaven!" Livvie finally got out.

Alison smiled and put her arms around Rafe. "He was able to come back to me."

"Are you staying long?" Livvie asked him.

"Yeah, you could say that," Rafe said with a smile.

Alison could tell Livvie was still full of questions. "It's a long story, Livvie. I'll tell you later."

"Well, um, I came over because I was worried about you. I thought you might want some breakfast or something, but I see you're already eating. But I guess that's okay since the muffins I dropped have fuzz all over them now."

Alison and Rafe laughed.

"Do you want me to open up the bakery for you today or what?"

"Um, yeah, I'll be there, um, maybe later?"

"No, no, why don't you take a day off? You've been though a lot and I'm sure you two want some time alone."

"No, Livvie, I couldn't put all of that on you."

"But it wouldn't be any trouble, Alison. Look, I'll close the shop early, and Jack will come by later. He can help out if things get busy."

"Jack? Oh, if I were you, keep him away from those brownies because he ate like a whole tray of them last week."

Livvie laughed. "It's really no problem, okay? Just take the day off, alright? I think you really could use it."

"Okay. Livvie?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you…for everything. You're such a good friend."

Livvie smiled. "You're welcome. It's great to have you back, Rafe."

"It's great to be back." He and Alison smiled at each other.

"Okay, see you two later. Call me," she whispered to Alison and left.

"I have such a great friend!" Alison said. She smiled at Rafe. "She told me to take the whole day off so I could be with my guy. How nice is that?"

"It's very nice, but um, whatever will we do?"

"I could think of a couple of things." Alison leaned forward and kissed him. "We'll spend every moment together today."

"Not just today, Alison. Forever." They kissed again…